Ion exchange resins are widely used within the biotechnology industry for the large-scale separation and/or purification of various biological molecules such as proteins, enzymes, vaccines, DNA, RNA, and the like. The vast majority of the cation exchange resins are based on either styrene/divinylbenzene copolymers or crosslinked agarose. The hydrophobic backbone of styrene/divinylbenzene copolymers can be prone to non-specific interactions with a number of materials leading to impure products. Although crosslinked agarose resins are generally less susceptible to non-specific interactions, these materials tend to be fairly soft gels and are usually unsuitable for purifications conducted within a chromatographic column using a high flow rate.
Some known cation exchange resins are based on (meth)acrylic-type polymeric materials. Many of these cation exchange resins, however, are gels or have a relatively low capacity or low porosity.